Numerous U.S. patents deal with various types of automatic, timed pet feeding devices. Examples of these include Marzocco U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,501; Lane U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,478; and Fleming U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,825, to name just a few.
One significant problem with any pet feeding apparatus is that a hungry animal is likely to push it around or tip it while eating, especially when, as is the case with timed feeding apparatus, the food may be inaccesible to the animal because the automatic feed dispensing mechanism has not yet operated. In this instance, a large animal may knock the feeding apparatus over and even break it.
Also, there is a need for a reliable, efficient timing and unlatching mechanism to release a swinging door and expose the feeding space at a desired time which can be controlled by the user.
Solutions to these problems by this present invention, and other advantages of this invention, are described below.